Society of the Cincinnati - Christian Influence

The Society of the Cincinnati was founded in May 1783 by officers of the Continental Army at the close of the American Revolutionary War. It takes its name from Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus. Cincinnatus was a Roman statesman and general who was given dictatorial power in the mid-5th Century BC, in order to defeat the Aequians, only then to give up that power and return to farming once his purpose was fulfilled. Naturally, the officers of the revolution saw Cincinnatus as an example of moral virtue and the just application of ultimate power.

General Henry Knox led its founding, and George Washington was later elected its first president general where he would serve until 1799, even while he was President of the United States. The second president of the Society of the Cincinnati was Alexander Hamilton. Membership was initially limited to officers who had served at least three years in the Continental Army or Navy, those officers who died during the War, or those who fought until the War's conclusion, and it was designed to be hereditary, passing to the eldest male descendant of an eligible officer. Additionally, while the Society had offices in each of the 13 states, it also had an office in France, ordained by King Louis, for those French officers who helped secure our Independence.

The founders of the Republic were, in many ways, Christian men of devout faith. Though they may be of differing denominations, they were unified in their shared ideals for a free and just society bound my moral and virtuous laws that were egalitarian and not based upon nobility or class. This is the same for those military officers who led those Armies that contributed to the success of the revolution, and we can see the influence of their shared faith represented in their conduct and in their writings. For example, the New York chapter of the Society published in 1784 a pamphlet entitled The Institution of the Society of the Cincinnati, in which they affirm their beliefs as they organize themselves into what is functionally a fraternity that has passed down through their male descendants into today. Here they state:

It having pleased the Supreme Governor of the Universe, in the disposition of human affairs, to cause the separation of the colones of North-America from the domination of Great Britain, and after a bloody conflict of eight years, to establish them FREE, INDEPENDENT, and SOVEREIGN STATES, connected by alliances, founded on reciprocal advantages, with some of the greatest Princes and Power of the earth.

To perpetuate therefore, as well the remembrance of this vast event, as the mutual friendship which have been formed under the pressure of common danger, and in many instances cemented by the blood of the parties; the Officers of the American Army do hereby in the most solemn manner, ASSOCIATE, CONSTITUTE, and COMBINE THEMSELVES into one SOCIETY of FRIENDS, to endure as long as they shall endure, or any of their eldest male posterity, and in failure thereof, the collateral branches, who may be judged worthy of becoming its supporters and members. (New York State Society 1784, 4-5)

The members of the Society believed in Divine Providence. God's hand shaped men's affairs, and to affirm this belief, they state that we need only look towards ancient history to see this as true. On the 4th of July, 1786, the Rhode Island chapter of the Society of Cincinnati held a discourse provided by Reverend Enos Hitchcock, where he stated:

The truth of a governing providence, to which we are to ascribe our salvation, stands written, in the fairest characters, in the memorable events which have filled up the history of the revolving ages of the world; - In the rise and fall of States and Kingdoms; - In crowning their virtues with prosperity, and following their vices with just corrections (Hitchcock 1786, 11). 

He reflected upon the ancient Jewish nation and their ability to defeat their foes “in full confidence of divine strength.”  He saw the moral virtue of the Persian King Cyrus, who fostered glory and respect which drew the envy of other peoples. The Romans experienced happiness and prosperity, due to the series of equitable and just laws they imposed on their people by the power of their Senate and the organization of its Legions. These stories culminate in Reverend Hitchcock looking towards our own history and the conditions that set off the Revolution. The rugged and determined settlers and colonists of Great Britain worked to conquer the land, become prosperous, and spread the Word, and it was because of our success that we drew the “avarice, envy, and jealousy” of countrymen in the Old World.

But the evil was too alarming and detestable to pass unnoticed. - The genius of America, roused by reiterated and atrocious acts of tyranny and oppression, called forth the generous effort of her sons, to oppose the destructive system; yes, to resist unto blood, rather than part with their freedom - Liberty, fair daughter of heaven! Inspired every foul with a pure flame, and glowed in every face (Hitchcock 1786, 15).

In the eyes of the reverend, if not many of the Society, they believed that the revolution “displays the hand of God, claims the attention of all the power of earth (Hitchcock 1786, 16).” Indeed, while it may be said that the American Revolution’s lofty ideals influenced many prominent French Enlightenment thinkers with its calls for liberty and egalitarianism, however, while the French chapter of the Society of Cincinnati didn’t have a hand, one of its prominent members, the Marquis de Lafayette, helped prepare the initial drafts of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen with the help of Thomas Jefferson.

For those interested in reading more about the Society of Cincinnati, many of their originally published documents are available in the Sabin Americana: History of the Americas, 1500–1926 database. Links to the references mentioned in this post are below, and they will take you to those entries within Sabin Americana.

References:

New York State Society of the Cincinnati. The institution of the Society of the Cincinnati : formed by the officers of the army of the United States, for the laudable purposes therein mentioned. New York: Printed by Samuel Loudon, [1784]. Sabin Americana: History of the Americas, 1500-1926 (accessed April 4, 2025). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CY0101388723/SABN?u=vic_liberty&sid=bookmark-SABN&xid=4efe508c&pg=4.

Hitchcock, Enos, and Society of the Cincinnati. A discourse on the causes of national prosperity, illustrated by ancient and modern history, exemplified in the late American revolution : addressed to the Society of the Cincinnati, in the state of Rhode-Island, at their annual meeting at East-Greenwich, July 4, 1786. Providence: Printed by Bennett Wheeler, 1786. Sabin Americana: History of the Americas, 1500-1926 (accessed April 4, 2025). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CY0100236715/SABN?u=vic_liberty&sid=bookmark-SABN&xid=0c9ebc23&pg=6.